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This weekend, on June 2nd and 3rd, the Mateel Community Center will kick off the summer festival season with the 36th Annual Summer Arts and Music Festival at Benbow Lake State Recreation Area in Southern Humboldt.

A beloved local tradition to celebrate the arrival of summer, this favorite family event will once again offer the most comprehensive and affordable celebration of arts and culture on the North Coast, with more than 100 diverse local to international performers on four-plus stages, over 150 handmade craft and food booths, an all-media fine arts showcase, outrageous kid zone, the Generation Green Tent, Belly Dance Temple, and so much more.

Featured talent at this year’s event will include Fishbone, Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited, Diego’s Umbrella, Barons Of Tang, Kabbalah, The Revelations featuring Tre Williams, Shook Twins, Monkey, Candelaria, Stymie and The Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra, Matt Eakle Band, I See Hawks In L.A., Aeon Now, Dysphunctional Species, The Dapper Cadavers, Sour Mash Hug Band, The Freys, Joanne Rand, Absynth Quintet, Backwordz Medicine, Secret Circus, and the World Peace Clowns, plus over 60 of the best local bands, musicians, dance troupes, and children’s entertainers.

Admission is at the gate only and priced at $15 per day or $25 for the weekend pass with kids 12 and under free. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. each day.

The complimentary festival shuttle is the recommended way to access the event. It offers regular service with stops in Redway (Majestic Center), Garberville (Chevron), and throughout the Benbow area, including Benbow Lake and Richardson Grove campgrounds, Bear Pen, and along Benbow Dr. There is also paid parking available in the Benbow Golf lot for a price of $20 per day per standard size vehicle.

This year, the Mateel Community Center is also working in conjunction with CA State Parks to offer Benbow Lake Campground exclusively to festival attendees. Featuring a secluded redwood and riverside location, reservations for this campground can be made either by the individual or as a group site for up to eight people and all camping options include a three-night stay from June 1-3. Camping is by advance reservation only and is available online through the Summer Arts page at www.mateel.org or at the Mateel office. Don’t delay in making your reservations as the last spaces are expected to fill fast.

And, for the full scoop on all the magic and mystery in store this weekend at the 36th Annual Summer Arts and Music Festival, pick up a copy of the official festival program guide, out now at local newsstands throughout Humboldt and Mendocino counties. Otherwise just make plans to join the festival fun at Benbow Lake this weekend, June 2 and 3.

photo captions:

1. Top, Fishbone; bottom, Kabbalah

2. Top, Shook Twins; bottom, Absynth Quintet

3. Top, World Peace Clowns; bottom, Thomas Mapfumo

4. Top, Candelaria; bottom, Diego’s Umbrella

5. Periko Circo Express